South East · Non-metropolitan district

Ashford

2026/27 view

Ashford · ONS E07000105

Financial position as at 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

View sources

COUNCIL AT A GLANCE

Who runs the council and its current position

23/ 100

COUNCILMETRICS FINANCIAL HEALTH SCORE

Significant pressure

Compared only with non-metropolitan district councils using central government returns.

164 councils in peer group Rank 147 of 164 High confidence 2024/25 outturn · 2026/27 Q1 debt How this is calculated

Reserves cover36

Debt burden7

Liquidity19

Debt direction29

YEAR-ON-YEAR CONTEXT Change from the previous reported period Each measure uses its own official reporting timetable.

Net debt £250.96m 2026/27 Q1 vs 2025/26 Q4

+£2.61m 1.1%

Service expenditure £23.74m 2024/25 vs 2023/24

+£200.3k 0.9%

Unallocated reserves £3.27m 2024/25 vs 2023/24

£0.00 0.0%

FIVE-YEAR FINANCIAL TREND

How this council's finances have changed

Official annual outturn. Each line uses its own scale so direction remains easy to read.

Through 2024/25

Service expenditure £23.74m

6.2%

Net revenue expenditure £21.35m

2.2%

Council Tax requirement £12.22m

20.4%

Unallocated reserves £3.27m

27.4%

COUNCILMETRICS COMMUNITY SCORE Share your experience 0 of 25 responses collected before results are published

Score this council

Political controlNot yet recordedAdministration not identified

Council leaderNot identifiedParty not identified

Resident population140,9362024 estimate

Latest net debt£250.96m2026/27 Q1 quarter end

WASTE & RECYCLING

What happens to household waste?

Official Defra measures for Ashford, with like-for-like comparison against collection authorities.

2024/25

48.8%recycled

Household recycling rate

Recycling rate fell

0.5 percentage points vs 2023/24

46 of 196 peer authorities Peer median 42.1%

Residual waste398.6 kgper household−3.8 kg year on year

Waste collected328.0 kgper resident−10.7 kg year on year

Household waste46,222tonnes collected22,568 tonnes recycled

WHERE HOUSEHOLD WASTE WENT

Recycled versus residual waste

22,568 t recycled, composted or reused 23,654 t not recycled

RECYCLING RATE TREND

10 years of official data

48.8%

2015/162024/25

EDUCATION

Schools and education

Schools, pupil numbers and latest education outcomes across Ashford.

2024/25

SCHOOLS & PUPILS

Education at a glance

Explore schools

62 Open schools

22,861 Pupils

25,177 School places

90.8% Capacity utilisation

ATTAINMENT & OUTCOMES

Key Stage 4

Published outcomes for pupils living in Ashford.

Attainment 8

45.0

South East 47.0

England 46.1

1.1 points below England

English & maths grade 5+

44.0%

South East 47.9%

England 45.4%

1.4 percentage points below England

EBacc entry

48.8%

South East 41.6%

England 40.5%

8.3 percentage points above England

PROGRESS

Progress 8

-0.13

Latest published Progress 8 score, 2023/24.

A score of 0 represents the national average.

TREND

Attainment 8 over time

46.7 18/19

50.1 19/20

50.7 20/21

48.4 21/22

46.7 22/23

45.4 23/24

45.0 24/25

Education context

Ashford's latest Key Stage 4 outcomes show a mixed picture when compared with South East and England.

Department for Education · Key Stage 4 performance · Pupil residency

HOUSING & AFFORDABILITY

Housing costs and local earnings

House prices and affordability for Ashford, based on the earnings of local residents.

2025

Median house price

£345,000

+ 15.0% over five years

Median resident earnings

£37,440

+ 24.0% over five years

House price to earnings

9.21×

Improved from 9.93× five years ago

PRIVATE RENTING

Average monthly private rent

Typical private rental cost across all property types in Ashford.

£1,246 / month

+ 3.4% in the last year

July 2026

Ashford

£1,246

+ 3.4%

South East

£1,419

+ 2.9%

England

£1,451

+ 3.8%

Compared with South East £173 less per month

Compared with England £205 less per month

HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Housing affordability

Median house price as a multiple of median resident earnings. Lower is more affordable.

Ashford

9.21×

South East

9.20×

England

7.64×

Compared with South East Less affordable

Compared with England Less affordable

Source: Office for National Statistics · Housing affordability in England and Wales · House prices year ending September · Residence-based earnings

PLANNING & HOUSING DELIVERY

Is development moving through the system?

Quarterly planning decisions and the government's latest three-year Housing Delivery Test.

2026 Q1

Applications received378this quarter+45 vs 2025 Q4

Applications decided207this quarter−35 vs 2025 Q4

Outstanding applications—at quarter end

89.4%approved

Overall approval rate185 granted22 refused+4.3 pts vs previous quarter

DECISION TIMELINESS

Decisions made within time

91.8%

Rank 164 of 294 reporting authoritiesNational median 92.5%

4.5 percentage points lower than 2025 Q4

APPLICATION MIX

Performance by development type

TypeDecisionsApprovedIn time Major6100.0%100.0% Minor5483.3%96.3% Other14791.2%89.8%

QUARTERLY FLOW

Applications through the system

Last 8 quarters

HOUSING DELIVERY TEST

Homes delivered against requirement

75%

Required2,782homes over three years

Delivered2,075homes over three years

100% requirement

20% bufferHDT 2025 government assessment

CRIME & POLICING

Police-recorded crime

Latest police-recorded crime figures for Ashford, excluding fraud.

Year ending Mar 2026

Recorded offences 9,197 Total police-recorded crime excluding fraud

Crime rate 65.3 offences per 1,000 residents

Annual change − 6.8% compared with the previous year

HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Recorded crime rate

Offences per 1,000 residents

Ashford Your council

65.3 − 6.8%

South East Region

70.5 − 2.7%

England National

83.4 − 1.5%

Ashford has a recorded crime rate 7.4% below South East. It is 21.8% below the England rate.

OFFENCE PROFILE

Recorded crime by category

Kent

Violence 3,798

26.9 per 1,000 − 8.3%

Theft 2,579

18.3 per 1,000 − 14.0%

Public order 507

3.6 per 1,000 − 4.5%

Criminal damage 986

7.0 per 1,000 − 5.7%

Shoplifting 1,047

7.4 per 1,000 − 18.0%

Vehicle offences 333

2.4 per 1,000 − 22.6%

Burglary 328

2.3 per 1,000 − 8.1%

Drug offences 388

2.8 per 1,000 + 26.4%

ONS / Home Office · Police-recorded crime · Community Safety Partnership data

SCHOOLS & OFSTED

Schools and inspection outcomes

Open schools, pupil numbers and the latest published Ofsted inspection position for Ashford.

62 schools

Open schools 62

Pupils 22,861

School places 25,177

Capacity used 90.8%

Primary 43 schools

10,692 pupils

Other / specialist 11 schools

2,065 pupils

Secondary 7 schools

8,454 pupils

All-through 1 school

1,650 pupils

CURRENT POSITION

Inspection coverage

Latest Ofsted management information

Renewed framework 3

4.8% of open schools

Previous full framework 27

43.5% of open schools

Ungraded inspection 23

37.1% of open schools

No Ofsted record 9

14.5% of open schools

RENEWED FRAMEWORK

Latest inspection standards

3 schools assessed

Achievement 3 assessed

Expected standard 1

Needs attention 1

Strong standard 1

Attendance & behaviour 3 assessed

Expected standard 2

Strong standard 1

Curriculum & teaching 3 assessed

Strong standard 2

Needs attention 1

Inclusion 3 assessed

Strong standard 2

Expected standard 1

Leadership & governance 3 assessed

Strong standard 2

Needs attention 1

Personal development 3 assessed

Expected standard 2

Strong standard 1

Safeguarding 3 assessed

Met 3

PREVIOUS FRAMEWORK

Legacy Ofsted ratings

These ratings apply only to schools whose latest full inspection remains under the previous Ofsted framework. Schools assessed under the renewed framework are shown separately above.

Outstanding 3

Good 16

Not judged 8

LOCAL SCHOOLS

School directory

View all schools

School	Phase	Pupils	Capacity	Latest Ofsted position
Aldington Primary School URN 118365 · TN25 7EE	Primary	198	210	Good
Ashford Oaks Community Primary School URN 135125 · TN23 4QR	Primary	443	420	Good
Ashford, St Mary's Church of England Primary School URN 118738 · TN23 1ND	Primary	418	420	Ungraded inspection
Beaver Green Primary School URN 141871 · TN23 5DA	Primary	483	420	Ungraded inspection
Bethersden Primary School URN 118372 · TN26 3AH	Primary	117	140	Good
Brabourne Church of England Primary School URN 118663 · TN25 5LQ	Primary	104	105	Ungraded inspection
Brook Community Primary School URN 118373 · TN25 5PB	Primary	76	105	Good
Challock Primary School URN 118374 · TN25 4BU	Primary	212	210	Outstanding

School information: Get Information about Schools (GIAS). Inspection information: Ofsted monthly management information. Inspection frameworks differ over time, so renewed-framework standards and previous overall effectiveness grades are shown separately.

Published expenditure£0.00No spending file imported

Revenue budget£0.00Not imported

Reported overspend£0.00Not imported outturn

Contracts00 active

Identified suppliers0Normalised entities

PEOPLE AND PLACE

Population snapshot

View full People profile

Population 140,936 2024

South East region 9,642,942

Five-year population change

+10,470 residents ↑ 8.0%

Ashford +8.0%

South East +4.9%

England +4.3%

Growth context

Ashford's population grew over five years. Its change was 3.1 percentage points above the South East and 3.8 percentage points above England.

2019–2024 ONS mid-year estimates

Population estimates and labour-market measures from ONS/Nomis.Official profile

BENEFITS & FINANCIAL PRESSURE

How is Universal Credit changing in Ashford?

People receiving Universal Credit and how the caseload has changed over the latest 24 months.

DWP · May 2026

PEOPLE ON UNIVERSAL CREDIT 14,976 10.6% of the 2024 resident population May 2026

CHANGE IN 12 MONTHS +6.7% +937 people

LATEST MONTHLY CHANGE +0.3% +42 since April 2026

LOCAL CONTEXT

Universal Credit recipients as a share of population

Comparison using 2024 resident population estimates.

May 2026

Ashford LOCAL AUTHORITY

10.6%

South East REGION

9.5%

England COUNTRY

12.3%

Percentage of the resident population receiving Universal Credit. This is not an unemployment rate.

24-MONTH TREND

People receiving Universal Credit

Monthly caseload recorded on the DWP Universal Credit system.

June 2024 May 2026

14,991 13,738 12,485

June 2024 May 2026

What does this measure?

Universal Credit provides financial support to people who are on a low income or out of work. These figures count people receiving Universal Credit, not households and not the number of people who are unemployed.

DWP Stat-Xplore

HOUSING LICENSING

HMOs and property licensing

Coverage not assessedNational HMO explorer

Licensed HMOsAwaiting registerOnly licensed properties will be counted

Identifiable HMO expenditureNot identifiableNot separately described in published transactions

Inspection and enforcement dataAwaiting dataNo activity source imported yet

Coverage note

A licensed HMO register has not yet been located for this council. CouncilMetrics does not estimate HMO expenditure from broad housing or social-care descriptions.

FINANCE

How this council raises and spends money

Comparable official outturn for 2024/25, reported to central government.

MHCLG official outturn

Total service expenditure

£23.74m 2024/25 actual outturn

Net revenue expenditure

£21.35m 2024/25 actual outturn

Council Tax requirement

£12.22m 2024/25 actual outturn

Unallocated reserves

£3.27m 2024/25 actual outturn

Service expenditure per resident £168

Median for councils of the same type £166 1.8% above peer median

2024/25 SERVICE SPENDING

Where the money was spent

Net current expenditure after service income.

Actual outturn

Housing Gross £11.29m · Income £4.55m

£6.74m

Environmental and regulatory services Gross £19.51m · Income £13.65m

£5.86m

Central services Gross £20.46m · Income £15.36m

£5.10m

Planning and development Gross £12.60m · Income £9.06m

£3.54m

Culture and related services Gross £4.56m · Income £1.09m

£3.47m

Public health Gross £32.0k · Income £0.00

£32.0k

Highways and transport Gross £2.08m · Income £3.07m

£-989.7k

CORE FUNDING

Selected funding sources

Major financing lines in the central return.

Council Tax requirement£12.22m

Retained business rates£10.39m

Revenue Support Grant£289.0k

UNALLOCATED RESERVES

Financial buffer

General unallocated reserves during the year.

Opening £3.27m

Closing £3.27m

£0.00 increase during 2024/25

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government · Revenue Outturn RS and RSX · values shown in pounds Official dataset

BORROWING AND INVESTMENTS

Balance-sheet position

A point-in-time view of debt and liquid investments at the end of 2026/27 Q1.

MHCLG quarterly return

Outstanding borrowing

£286.17m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

Investments and cash

£35.21m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

Net debt

£250.96m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

Net debt per resident

£1,781 Per resident using latest population

This council's net debt per resident £1,781

Median for non-metropolitan district councils £95 1,770.1% higher than the peer median

QUARTERLY TREND

Borrowing, investments and net debt

2020/21 Q1 to 2026/27 Q1.

£2.61m quarterly increase

2020/21 Q12021/22 Q32023/24 Q12024/25 Q32026/27 Q1

Latest quarterly movement +£2.61m +1.1%

Change across the series +£89.98m Net debt since 2020/21 Q1

What changed?

Net debt increased during the quarter, with higher outstanding borrowing contributing to the movement.

BORROWING COMPOSITION

Where the borrowing sits

PWLB, other longer-term borrowing and short-term borrowing.

2026/27 Q1

Public Works Loan Board£141.67m

Short-term borrowing£144.50m

MHCLG Borrowing and Investment live table · 2026/27 Q1 · values shown in pounds Official dataset

COUNCIL TAX & COLLECTION

How much council tax remains unpaid?

Council tax collection, outstanding arrears and write-offs reported to central government.

MHCLG 2025/26

Outstanding arrears

£10.54m Total outstanding at financial year-end

Collection rate

96.62% Collected against the in-year debit

Council tax written off

£50,000 Written off during the financial year

Council tax collected

£113.99m Receipts relating to the financial year

FIVE-YEAR TREND

How has unpaid council tax changed?

Outstanding arrears at each financial year-end.

2021/22–2025/26

OUTSTANDING ARREARS 2025/26

£10.54m

CHANGE SINCE 2021/22

+ 38.7%

+ £2.94m

ENGLAND CHANGE

+49.5%

Figures represent total outstanding council tax balances, including arrears carried forward from earlier years. Changes in council boundaries can affect historical comparisons.

OUTSTANDING ARREARS

Where does the unpaid council tax come from?

Breakdown of outstanding balances at the end of 2025/26.

£10.54m outstanding

CURRENT FINANCIAL YEAR £4.31m

40.9% of outstanding arrears

EARLIER FINANCIAL YEARS £6.22m

59.1% of outstanding arrears

Current-year arrears Earlier-years arrears

Earlier-years arrears represent unpaid council tax carried forward from previous financial years. These figures do not identify individual households or establish whether balances are recoverable.

COLLECTION PERFORMANCE

How does this council compare?

England 2025/26

In-year collection rate 96.62%

England average: 95.60% · 1.02 percentage points above England

Outstanding arrears include unpaid balances from earlier financial years and are not the same as council tax uncollected during 2025/26. Monetary values are rounded for display. Official MHCLG source

SPENDING

Published directorate expenditure

Explore all 0 records

CONTRACTS

Largest contracts

Explore all 0 contracts

Contract	Supplier	Status	End date	Original value

SUPPLIERS

Largest supplier exposure

Dated transactions

Supplier	Payments	Published expenditure

PROVENANCE

Source documents

39 imported

Document	Dataset	Period	Status	Official source
Housing Delivery Test 2025 results — Ashford	mhclg housing delivery test	HDT 2025–HDT 2025	imported	Open
MHCLG district planning application decisions (PS2) — Ashford	mhclg planning ps2	1979 Q2–2026 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG district planning application statistics (PS1) — Ashford	mhclg planning ps1	1996 Q2–2026 Q1	imported	Open
Defra local authority waste statistics — Ashford Borough Council	defra local authority waste	2010/11–2024/25	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2023/24 — Ashford	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2023/24	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2023/24 — Ashford	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2023/24	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2022/23 — Ashford	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2022/23	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2022/23 — Ashford	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2022/23	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2021/22 — Ashford	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2021/22	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2021/22 — Ashford	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2021/22	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2020/21 — Ashford	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2020/21	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2020/21 — Ashford	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2020/21	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q4 — Ashford	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q3 — Ashford	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q2 — Ashford	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q1 — Ashford	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q4 — Ashford	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q3 — Ashford	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q2 — Ashford	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q1 — Ashford	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q4 — Ashford	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q3 — Ashford	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q2 — Ashford	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q1 — Ashford	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q4 — Ashford	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q3 — Ashford	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q2 — Ashford	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q1 — Ashford	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q4 — Ashford	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q3 — Ashford	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q2 — Ashford	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q1 — Ashford	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q4 — Ashford	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q3 — Ashford	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q2 — Ashford	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q1 — Ashford	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2026/27 Q1 — Ashford	mhclg borrowing investment	2026/27 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2024/25 — Ashford	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2024/25	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2024/25 — Ashford	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2024/25	imported	Open

How to read these figures and the Financial Health Score

Budget summaries and financial positions retain the reporting year and assurance status of their original source. Draft or unaudited values are labelled separately from audited outturn figures. The Financial Health Score uses reserves cover, net debt per resident, liquidity and quarterly debt direction from central MHCLG returns. Each component is converted to a percentile among councils of the same authority type; available components are weighted 35%, 30%, 20% and 15% respectively. A score is published only when at least three components covering 65% of the weighting are available. It is a comparative financial indicator, not an assessment of service quality or political performance.